Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Game Review – PHI 37, CIN 17

Posted October 30th, 2024 | 3 Comments »

We don’t know if the Bengals are a good team (despite what Nick Sirianni said). We do know they have an elite QB and some really talented players. Beating that team by 20 points is a darn good sign for the Eagles. The Bengals biggest loss prior to Sunday was just six points. The Eagles played really well on both sides of the ball and looked like a serious contender.

The Eagles didn’t start red hot. They trailed 10-3 in the second quarter before tying the game 10-10 just before halftime. The Eagles scored a TD after the break to take a 17-10 lead, but Cincy tied it up shortly after that. And then the Eagles took over, scoring the final 20 points of the game.

The run game was good, piling up 161 yards. The passing game put up 236 yards on only 20 attempts. The offense only had to punt once. The defense held the Bengals to just 20-58 on the ground. Joe Burrow threw for 234 yards and had some highlight plays, but Ja’Marr chase was limited to 54 yards on 9 catches. The Eagles had 2 takeaways, one sack and a key fourth down stop. That’s a complete game.

COACHING

I wondered if the Eagles would be lax after beating the Giants by 25 points. Nope. Nick Sirianni had his guys ready to play. The Eagles did trail early, but that had more to do with the Bengals making plays than the Eagles making mistakes. The Eagles stayed focused and dominated the second half. There weren’t many strategic decisions to make. The Eagles went for it on one fourth down. They did challenge a play and got it overturned.

Kellen Moore did a good job with the offense. Here is Sheil Kapadia’s take.

When the Eagles hired Kellen Moore as their offensive coordinator, the belief was that he could modernize the offense and add more easy buttons for quarterback Jalen Hurts. No one expected Moore to reinvent the wheel, but the scheme needed more variety and more answers. We finally saw some of those things against the Bengals. The Eagles ran a season-high 21 plays under center. Hurts targeted the middle of the field. Moore mixed in more play-action, and on those throws, Hurts went 6-for-7 for 142 yards. The Eagles had eight possessions, and they scored on seven of them—four touchdowns and three field goals. Based on EPA per drive, it was the seventh-best game by any offense this season. It was the Eagles’ best offensive performance in any game over the past three seasons.

That’s pretty impressive. The players made plays, but the design was also crucial. Give Moore and the offensive staff credit for their gameplan.

Vic Fangio mixed in a few wrinkles to confuse Burrow.

This is where a guy like Fangio has some value. He can come up with some twists that will affect a veteran QB. Fangio has been around a long time and knows there is a difference in being creative and reckless. He is getting the most out of his players right now.

OFFENSE

Jalen Hurts played his best game of the year. He threw a TD pass, ran for 3 TDs and didn’t turn the ball over. That’s pretty good. Hurts made some key throws. Dan Orlovsky did a good breakdown of three of them.

The OL gave Hurts time to throw and he took advantage of it. He made smart decisions and got the ball to the right people. Hurts had a couple of good runs and finished 10-37 on the ground. There were only a couple of bad plays from Hurts. He threw two passes that were questionable. One was dangerous and the other was almost picked off. The throws came in the first half. Hurts then settled down and played at a high level. More games like this, please.

Saquon Barkley had another outstanding game. He was 22-108 on the ground and had some great runs. As impressive as those plays were, I also love watching him in traffic with limited room. Barkley doesn’t dance. He twists and turns and goes forward to get as much as he can. You don’t see him tackled for a loss very often. When it does happen, it isn’t his fault.

Ben VanSumeren was only in for 4 plays, but had a couple of good blocks.

AJ Brown had some key catches and went 5-84. Hurts hit him on 3rd & 16 and they moved the chains. AJ got the right depth and made the catch, then secured the first down. DeVonta went 6-85-1. He made several key catches to move the chains in the second half. His highlight was a 45-yard TD. You have to love the way he initiated contact and steadied himself so he could make the grab.

Grant Calcaterra went 3-58, with a long gain of 28. I did not expect him to out-gain Ja’Marr Chase. That’s crazy. Calcaterra still drives me crazy as a blocker, but the coaches have found a way to get him the ball in space and take advantage of his athleticism. Jack Stoll had a great block on the long TD pass. He was alone against a DE and shut him down. Great job. Stoll caught one pass and almost fumbled, but they ruled forward progress.

The OL had a really good game. They opened some good holes for Barkley and the run game. They didn’t give up a sack. The Bengals were only credited with 1 QB hit. The protection went beyond just the OL. Kenny Gainwell had a great chip block on a DE. There were plays when a TE stayed in to help block. There were plays when both TEs took on a DE and the OL then had 3 rushers to block. Jeff Stoutland mixed up protections and it worked brilliantly.

Fred Johnson had to block Trey Hendrickson. Johnson got some help, but won a lot of battles. When he did lose, he lost slowly enough that Hurts had time to get rid of the ball. Johnson used his size, length and effort to win. It wasn’t technically great, but other teams would love a performance like that from their backup LT.

Tyler Steen started at RG and had another strong showing. Cam Jurgens looked good as the lead blocker for Hurts on some QB runs. Lane and Landon were as good as they usually are.

DEFENSE

I know a lot of people got a bad feeling when the Bengals had a 10-minute drive to open the game. They went 5 for 5 on third downs and scored a TD. There were flashbacks to 2021, when good QBs would eat Jonathan Gannon alive. The low point might have been Derek Carr going 31-34-323 with a pair of TDs. It was like watching 7-on-7.

While the Bengals did move the ball on the opening drive, it wasn’t easy. The Eagles won first and second down. The Bengals converted on third downs. And some of those were really impressive plays. I had the feeling the defense would settle in and play better. They sure did.

Burrow had to play a lot of small ball. It was great on the opening drive, but not so much after that. There were 3 plays of 24 or more yards. The next longest play was 13 yards. By comparison, the Eagles had 9 plays cover more than 13 yards.

The DL was excellent against the run. They ate up blocks and made plays. Cincy was 20-58 on the ground. The RBs were 17-43, with a long run of just 5 yards. Jalen Carter didn’t have a tackle, but was disruptive. Milton Williams had half a sack and got pressure on multiple plays. He gave the RG fits. Moro Ojomo had a tackle and got pressure.

The edge rushers had another good game. Nolan Smith continues to make his presence felt. He had 2 tackles, half a sack and a batted pass. Smith beat the RT by going low and flying by the RT. Smith had to cover Chase on a red zone play and gave up a TD. Give Zac Taylor credit for designing a good play and calling it at the perfect time. Josh Sweat came free up the middle on a stunt, but missed Burrow. That was torturous. Bryce Huff had a couple of tackles and played the run well. There was an early play where he took on the blocker to set the edge and the RB had to cut inside, right to the tacklers. Brandon Graham had a couple of tackles and a FF. His highlight came when he filled a gap on 3rd & 1 and blew up the run. That led to a dramatic fourth down stop.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before…Zack Baun led the team in tackles (12). He is among league leaders in tackles, which is impressive for someone who is new to ILB. Baun forced a fumble late in the game. That was recovered by Nakobe Dean, who also had 9 tackles, a TFL and a QB hit. Both guys were tough against the run and blitzed effectively. Dean blew up OL on multiple rushes. It is fun to watch him play downhill.

That is sexier than Sydney Sweeney in a bikini.

Reed Blankenship had 8 tackles and a PD. I thought he was good in run support. He gave up some completions to Mike Gesicki, but the coverage was solid and those were impressive plays. CJGJ had his first INT of the year. He had the ball tipped to him. He was quiet as a tackler, just 1.

Cooper DeJean was the star of the secondary. He had 3 tackles, a TFL and just missed an INT. You’ve seen the TFL a million times by this point. It was great to watch DeJean run with Chase and then attack him to make the fourth down stop. No hesitation. No sloppiness. Great play. My only complaint with DeJean came on 3rd & 22. He was in the flat and near Gesicki. Burrow scrambled and DeJean came up on him, leaving Gesicki wide open for a big play and conversion. I was going ballistic on that play.

Darius Slay played very well. He had 4 tackles and broke up a pass. That happened in the end zone and prevented a TD. Slay made a really good tackle in run support on an outside run. Quinyon Mitchell had another good showing. He was in on 2 tackles and covered well.

Slay got hurt so Isaiah Rodgers took his place. Rodgers tipped a downfield pass to CJGJ for the INT. Great awareness and ball skills on that.

ST

Jake Elliott made all his kicks.

Braden Mann only had one punt. It went 52 yards, but was a touchback.

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Good D

Posted October 29th, 2024 | 2 Comments »

When you think Eagles football, you’re more likely to think defense than offense. Reggie White. Brian Dawkins. Chuck Bednarik, as a linebacker of course. Philly fans have appreciated good defense for decades. That made last year’s team especially painful to watch. They were soft and they played bad defense.

This season didn’t start off too well, but things have definitely changed. The Eagles have put together 4 good games out of the last 5. In those 4 games, the Eagles held opponents to 280 yards or less and 17 points or less. Check out these numbers from the esteemed Sheil Kapadia.

Defensively, there are reasons to believe that the players are taking to Vic Fangio’s new scheme. In three games since the bye, the Eagles are second in defensive success rate and EPA per drive, and they have allowed just two touchdowns on 31 possessions by opponents. Rookie defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean have played well, and the coverage and pass rush units are working well together.

Pretty decent.

This recent hot streak is very promising. We still need to see the defense play this way for an extended period. One of the challenges in the NFL is making adjustments and then dealing with the adjustments that your opponents makes to what you’re doing. The Eagles changed some things up for the Saints game and the defense was fantastic. Tampa saw that and countered with a quick passing game. The Eagles couldn’t solve that on that day.

The Eagles have now played three good games in a row. The biggest thing for me is that the defense looks smart. Guys are in position. They cover well. They tackle well. For the first few games, there was too much confusion. That’s what happens when you have young players in a new scheme with new coaches. Confusion.

Everyone is finally getting on the same page. The players are playing better and Vic Fangio has figured out how to get the most out of this group. There is no magic elixir. Just good, solid football. Fangio is making good calls and the players are executing.

Fangio didn’t blitz much in the Giants game. He was more aggressive in Cincinnati.

The Eagles had 8 sacks in the Giants game. They only had one sack against the Bengals, but they got regular pressure on Joe Burrow. He was forced to get rid of the ball quickly and wasn’t able to attack down the field very much. He threw 37 passes for just 234 yards. Jalen Hurts threw 20 passes and had 236 yards. Wanna guess which guy had more time to throw?

Fangio can attack or cover. He can use zone blitzes. He can mix coverages. All of this forces a QB to slow down his reads and decisions.

Adding Cooper DeJean to the lineup has paid dividends. He is fast and athletic. DeJean is tough and tackles well. There was a play against the Bengals where he took on a blocker and disrupted a running play at the line of scrimmage. Not all nickelbacks do that.

DeJean is also pretty good in coverage.

The pass rush has come alive. Nolan Smith is flying off the edge and has gotten to the QB for three straight games. Josh Sweat is getting regular pressure and QB hits. The DL is making their impact felt.

Nakobe Dean has played well the past two weeks. Fangio is letting him play more downhill and it is working well. Dean got to blitz several times in Cincy and got good pressure. He blew up the RG a couple of times.

Quinyon Mitchell and Darius Slay are covering well, which syncs up nicely with the pass rush being more effective. If the QB has to hold the ball an extra second, the rushers have time to get there. If the rushers get quick pressure, the CBs don’t have to cover as long. What a lovely symbiotic world of happiness and teamwork.

The defense came up with 2 takeaways and a 4th down stop against the Bengals. Those were game-changing plays. If Fangio’s guys can do more of that, the rest of the season will be a lot more fun.

This defense features a lot of young players and new guys. They can still get better, individually and as a group. There is a lot of potential here. I’m excited to see if Fangio can get them to continue to play at a high level. This just feels worlds different than 2023.

*****

I know some people want the Eagles to make a trade. For now, I lean toward them staying put. If they could add a true impact player, go for it. The guys we’ve seen get traded so far don’t feel like difference-makers.

The current players are better now than Week 1. I’d prefer to see them get more playing time so we can just how good this group can be.

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